Ball Position

The golf ball should not be placed in the same spot for every shot. Certain shots require the ball to be further back in the stance (closer to the back foot), and other shots call for the ball being placed further forward in the stance (closer to the front foot).

Let's start with the shot that requires the ball to be played the furthest back in the stance: the chip shot. I believe this shot should be played with the ball just inside the right heel, or instep. Given the importance of hitting down on the ball for a chip, playing the ball back gives the golfer added insurance of catching the ball with the clubhead before the turf. Additionally, the chip shot should be a low, running shot, and when the ball is played back the club is slightly de-lofted, which encourages a lower trajectory.

For full swings, the more loft on the club, the further back the ball should be played. However, the ball should never be played much further back than the middle of the stance. For a full swing with a sand wedge, I do like to play the ball just slightly right of center of the stance because this calls for such a steep swing with an emphatic descending blow.

As loft begins to decrease with the longer irons, the ball should be played further forward toward the front foot. I believe that the ball should be moved approximately 1 - 2 inches forward for each club as loft decreases (culminating in the driver which should be played just inside the left heel). This is due to the fact that as loft decreases, the golfer should hit down a bit less on the ball and use more of a 'sweeping' motion. Remember that our address position as we set up should closely mimic our intended 'contact' position.

Think about the physics of the golf swing. With a sand wedge or more lofted club, the shaft is shorter so we are swinging on a smaller arc than a long iron or wood. Therefore we want the swing to 'bottom out' on its arc closer to where the ball is with the longer irons, and well after the ball for the shorter irons (this is why it's good to take a divot when hitting lofted irons; which is indicative of catching the ball on a descending blow and having the clubhead bottom out well after contact under the turf). The divot should become more shallow as loft decreases and there should not be a divot at all for longer irons and fairway woods.

The driver is played off the left heel because it is the one club that we want to hit just slightly on the upswing. The clubhead actually bottoms out on its arc just before contact.

When a 'flop shot' is necessary (and this should should only be attempted when absolutely necessary due to the high difficulty level), the ball should be placed just forward of center of the stance. The amount of height required for the flop shot in question should dictate how far forward to play the ball. However, remember that you still need to hit down slightly on the ball in order to get the proper trajectory on the ball. In other words, trust the loft of the club to get the ball in the air, don't try to 'help' it into the air as this will cause the dreaded flipping motion that usually translates to fat or thin shots.

For putts, play the ball ever so slightly forward of the center of your stance. This will help get the ball rolling true (if it is too far back then it can sort of 'bounce' up initially rather than a pure roll).

Adhere to these tips on ball position and watch those scores drop!